Have Mercy

Matthew 5:7 "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy." 

Equipped for Mercy 

The USNS Mercy sailed into the Port of Los Angeles today. The 1000-bed ship will serve as floating hospital for non-Coronavirus patients.

"Mercy brings a team of medical professionals, medical equipment and supplies, all of which will act, in essence, as a `relief valve' for local civilian hospitals in Los Angeles so that local health professionals can better focus on COVID-19 cases,'' he said. "We will use our agility and responsiveness as an afloat medical treatment facility to do what the country asks, and bring relief where we are needed most.''

https://www.foxla.com/news/usns-mercy-hospital-ship-arrives-at-port-of-los-angeles-to-bring-relief-to-overwhelmed-area-hospitals

Mercy is a name of a huge ship. But really it is about the people, the jobs, the care, the courage, the do diligence of those placed on board to serve, bring healing and comfort to those recovering from other ailments and/or injuries. 


Essential for Mercy 

Our doctors and nurses, EMT's and various therapists and health providers are risking their own health and beyond by serving all the communities at large at this very moment in time across our country, around the world. They are working without enough protective equipment in this pandemic. The numbers are increasing. Quarantined patients are without their family and visa-versa.Nurses serve not only in the physical care, but in the emotional care of these patients. Who is caring for their anxieties, their mental and emotional health? 

Just like after war, after 9-11, we may see a surge of PTSD in our health professionals. 

Exacting Mercy 

I saw this story today--had to share it. 

https://www.nbclosangeles.com/on-air/restaurants-cater-meals-to-hospital-and-medical-workers/2336721/


The merciful:  "those who, through brotherly love, account another person’s misery their own; who weep over the calamities of others; who, out of their own property, feed the hungry and clothe the naked; who admonish those that are in error, inform the ignorant, pardon the offending; and who, in short, use their utmost endeavours to relieve and comfort others." ~ Erasmus, Dutch scholar and Christian philosopher, 1466-1536 A.D. 

Lord, I pray that you equip us with your mercy to serve those in need around us, the wounded in spirit, the bed-ridden in anxiety, the broken, unable to catch their breath. Allow us to be essential in all our thoughts and deeds, in our daily stay-at-home schedules and plans within these dynamics and parameters because of this merciless pandemic. Father God, give us exacting mercy at the time most needed, patience and understanding for each other, and the will and mindset to pursue Your mercy and grace even more. Lord, Your redemption awaits us as Easter approaches, yet Your redemption already empowers us now. There are heroes among us, many in the spotlight and many undercover. However You choose to use us in this time, let us be obedient to Your calling and humble in our approach. Expand our gifts for the greater Good, and multiply Your servants to proclaim the Hope in a world shuttered from Your Light. Thank You Lord for Your mercy given to us, and we pray for You to be merciful again on those in need and the wisdom to embrace it. Amen 

Walking in Love and Faith

Ephesians 5:2 "...and walk in love, just as Christ loved you, and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma."

"I need my walker."  

I've heard that request quiet a few times in the last 6 weeks. My husband, as some of you know, had his first full knee replacement surgery on June 15th. 

Experiencing a successful surgery, the recovery process even has the professionals a bit baffled. Here is a bit of a timeline...

6/15  Surgery

6/17  Released

In home physical therapy begins. 

7/1  Ted started to feel a lot of pain in his wrist, the opposite side. 

7/2 6:00 a.m. Arrive in emergency, excruciating pain in the wrist area, waiting,  not wanting to go to the ER in the middle of the night.  Using the walker with one hand, it took 45 minutes to get him in the truck because of the pain in his wrist.

We spend almost 12 hours in the E.R. while the doctors examine, take blood, test, poke more, prod, ask questions, consult and then decide. 

Around 6:30 p.m. he's wheeled into surgery again where his wrist, infected inside by something "angry" the doctor would relay, is irrigated and cleaned out, an aggressive treatment to save the knee from being compromised by any infection. 

Now he has a full soft cast on his wrist. 

7/3  Released from hospital. When we arrive at home,  a new "walker" is waiting at our door with a platform for his hand.

7/5  Our regular in-home physical therapist pays a visit and he informs her of a new pain behind his surgical knee. She examines him and finds concern enough to add an ultra-sound to our appointment the next day, a check for clots. 

7/6  I take him back to the hospital to see his regular physician and she sends us to get the ultra-sound. Diagnosis confirmed, 3 blood clots behind the knee. The doctor then orders a cat scan to double check the lungs. Result: a clot in each lung, D.V.T. and P.E. as the acronym goes; ( we know it all too well). He gets a bed on the fourth floor, admitted again, and the protocol for blood clots in sues. 

7/10 Ted gets to come home. Now we have an occupational therapist coming, in home-health professionals coming, his physical therapist still coming because he hasn't been released for out patient yet and blood collectors coming in between fielding phone calls, 

e-mails and pharmacy issues. 

7/25  This last Tuesday, he takes a nice shower (with my help). He probably enjoys it too much, stays in, standing, although his walker is half way in the tub. Finally getting out, I help him maneuver out, the walker always bearing his weight. Only a towel thrown over his backside, he scoots out of the bathroom, stops for a second and complains of dizziness, gets himself to the couch and then passes out. 

I call 911 in a panic, and the first responders arrive quickly. Now alert and cooperating, they take him by ambulance back to the hospital where he is misdiagnosed with pneumonia then correctly diagnosed in the morning. The paramedics were correct, dehydration coupled with the hot shower caused his blood pressure to drop, thus the fainting spell.  

On Monday, 7/31 He finally has his first out patient therapy appointment. By the way, his knee is doing great! The other knee? ...not so much; (the worse one of the two). Is he in a hurry to get that one done? ...not so much. 

"I need my walker." 

I gladly retrieve it for him and open it, allow him to stand and move to where he will rest tonight after another day of recovery, exercising his wrist and knee, while I do all I can to serve him, take care of him, encourage him and listen to him...and sometimes checking myself, capturing my thoughts and giving them over to The Great Healer. 

God has placed a timeline for me as well, although it is one involving my heart issues, my self issues. With each setback, each chore, each need, each time I have to stop what I intend to do or never start at all---to meet his needs, the Lord builds His strength in me as I ask Him to fill me with it. As I have experienced in past heart issues, the prayers of many who surround us in love are felt and doing a mighty work. I have offered my self up to help my husband heal, setting aside a lot of personal projects and a few social events. Those can wait. God's timing and His plans are for Ted to regain his strength and his ability to walk again, to grip again, to return to work. For me, to learn how to serve him in and through this time of need in a summer usually planned for many other activities. We both walk together with the Lord leading the way and we lean into each other in our love and in to Him to carry us through. 

Thank you Lord, for being the wondrous "Walker" I can grasp, hold on to and depend on so I do not fall and stumble over my own selfish desires and worldly needs. Lord, thank you that Your righteousness stands tall above the darkness that wants to trip us up. Help us Lord to desire servant hearts not just towards the ones we love, but for those who need to know Your truth and Your hope. Some of those people are so difficult, so lost, yet they too, need Your care, Your healing power. Thank You Lord for protecting Ted this week and for giving us both strength to continue this journey. In the end, may we look back and proclaim Your glory through it all and know that in our weakness, Your strength becomes evident. 

Walk by Faith 

Jeremy Camp